Garage-door operating and supporting mechanism



. V 1,641,160 p 1927' J. P. FREDRICK 4 GARAGE DOOR OPERATING ANDSUPPORTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 27, l926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 P J. P.FREDRICK GARAGE DOOR OPERATING AND SUPPORTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 27,1926 s Sheets-Sheet 2 6 1927. Sept J. P. FREDRICK GARAGE DOOR OPERATINGAND SUPPORTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 27, 1926 s Sheets-Sheet: 3

m H w mu Patented Sept. 6, 1927.v

UNITED: STA

Tss ATENT QFFICE;

JOSEPH P. FEEDRICK, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSTGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AUGUST 3'. LURIE, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS. A

GARAGE-DOOR ornrm'rrne AND SUPPORTING MECHANISM.

Application filed. February The present invention. relates to garagedoor operating and supporting mechanism. The invention has particular.application'to the swinging types of double doors most generallyusedongarages, although certain features of my invention haveapplication to single doors as well. p

One of the particular objects. of the invention is to provide improveddoor operating mechanism which will secure simultaneous movement of bothdoors in the opening and closing movements thereof. One of theparticular characteristics of this door operating mechanism is theprovision of unique latchin means for holdin the doors-in o 3811position. b

Another object of my invention pertains to the supporting. or liftingmechanism for supporting or lifting the freeedges of the door. Oneof thegreatest objections tothe swinging type of double door for garages isthe tendency for the doors to sag from the hinge line, this allowing thelower edges of the doors to drag on the pavement or strike the lowersill of the doorway and thereby make diiiicult the closing of thedoorsyoften necessitating the actual lifting of both doors. The presentsupporting or lifting mechanism operates to raise the free edges of bothdoors during theclosing movement thereof, particularly ifthe doors haveany tendency to sag; thereby avoiding the above objections. v

My invention has its greatest field of utility in connection with garagedoors and accordingly I have described theinvention in this embodiment,but it will be-understood'that the invention may be adapted to doubleswinging types of doors or closure members in other situations.

27, 192 Serial No. 91,073.

. I Fig. 5 is a verticalsectional view to illustrate this samemechanism. c

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in section, illustrating the hangerbracket. l

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a a0 sliding collar and guide rodof an embodiment in which the latch mechanism is associated with thecollar and guide rod. Fig. 8 is a fragmentaryview of the inner sideofone of the doors, showing the un- 35 latching connection inthisembodiment. 1

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary plan view of the same. r 1

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view illustrating another embodiment of doorlifting means. .70, Fig ll-is a plan view oftheembodiment shown in Fig.10 and Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a modified construction ofslidingcollar. I b

Referring to Fig. 1, the; two swinging doorsofa "garageiare indicated at14* and 14, the doorway which these 'd oors are adapted to close beingdefined betweenithe upper cross beam 15jand' the lower sill; level 16.The door 14 is illustrated as beingthe outer-closing door, having abatten strip 17 adapted to overlie or engage in a groove in the edge ofthe door 14 for closing the joint between the edges of the doors. V 7The two doors are connected together for conjoint. movement by, links 21x and 21 which links are pivoted attheir-outer ends to the doors bypivot brackets 22: and 22 securedto, the inner sides of the doors nearthe upper edges. vThe inner ends of these links have pivotal attachmentto asliding collar or block23. the ends of these: links being pivoted tothis collar by pivot pins 24 passing through lugs-25 projecting from thecollar and'through eyes in the ends ofathe links. This sliding collar orblock is, arranged for movement along-an overhead guide bar 26 whichextends back into the garage longitudinally thereof. Thefront end of,this guide-bar is fixedlysuspended 100 from the cross; beam 15 by ahanger bracket 27 which disposes the bar substantially centrally of thedoorway. The bar extends substantially horizontally back into thegarage, and the rear'end thereof is fixedly attached 105 to any adjacentframe work of the garage by brackets or hangers228 28 which may besecuredto the rafters or roof of the garage. These brackets or hangersare preferably pivotally attached to lugs or ears 29 ei rtend- 110 ingfrom a collar Ell, which pivotal attach ment permits the bracke s 28 tobe swung up or down to ditlerent angles of vertical inclination formaking attaclnnent to adjacent frame members of the garage. Thesupporting collar 23']. can be shifted along the guide bar to anypret'erred point (as long as it does not interfere with the sliding colar 225) to bring the brackets 28 into the plane of an adjacent rafteror cross beam, the collar 3t thereupon being lixedly ccured to the rodiltl by the set screw 32. it desired. each bracket 25% may be pivotallyconnected to an independent collar 3t so that these brackets may beshifted to dill'erent planes along the guide bar for making attachment.to ditlerent parts of the frame work of the garage.

It will be evident that the linked connection of both doors to thesliding collar or block 28 will compel simultaneous lllOYGlllOflt ofboth doors. Thus. an opening or closing movement applied to one of thedoors transmitted through this operating linkage to the other door.whereby both doors will be opened or closed with a (prick. positiveITIOVGIDBIlh.

To prevent the doors :lrom being swung open toe forcibly, and imposingan injurious strain on the hinges and on the door operating linkage. acompression spring 35lis placed on the guide rod at the trout. endthereof, this compression spring hearing atthe front against a collar 35secured to the guide rod and so positioned that the rear end of thespring will be engaged by the sliding collar 23 tor resiliently checkingthe movement of the doors at the outer limits of their opening movement.This re lient checking means also avoids the possibility of a suddengust of wind swinging the doors open forcibly and thereby injuring thesa me. Attention directed to the tact that the present operatingmechanism permits both doors to be swung back almost into parallelism.with the front. of the garage (see Fig. 2) which is a decided advantagein narrow alleys as it increases the space in which the car may beturned and backed.

I have provided very simple and ellicacious latching means tor holdingboth doors in open position. lhis con'ipriscs a latch bar which ispivot-ally supported on one ot the doors for booking over the o'ierating link connected to that door. l lctcrring to Fig. 3, this latchbar 37 is pivoted at 33 be tween pivot cars 39 ot a bracket l-l securedto the door. This latch has a plurality otf latching teeth 37 formed inthe underside thereof. which teeth drop over the adjacent link 21 bygravity action oi the latch. The outer end of the latch has a cam slopel2 tor camming the latch up over the link 21. when the link swings intothe range of ac tion of the latch in the opening movement of the door.The latch is normally held at a substantially horizontal angle. so thatthis cam slope will engage the link it at this time. lhe latch isnormally held in this horizontal position by the engagement of the lowerheel or corner "til thereof with, the stop surface ll of the bracketplate, the latch being tree to swing upwardly to its engaging posit-ionaround its pivot; 39.

its best shown in Fig. 2. the latch is prel crahly extended slightlyohliqiiely relative to the door ll" so that it will. lie at right anglesto the link ill to facilitate its latching engagement with the link. Thelatch is i,'clea.-;ed through actuation otan operating rod it whichextends down oblitmely across the inner side of the door 11- to aconvenient point of ormration adjacent the edge of the door. The upperend 01 this rod has pivotal. conncctitm at 4.7 to an arm l8 extendingdown from the inner end of the latch. The lower end of the operating rodto has an eye or other handle means 1-9, wla rehy an upward thrustingmovement can be given the rod for releasing the latch. The rod isguidial in spaced guides il secured to the inner side oli thedoor.

both doors approach their open positions, the latch bar 37 slips overthe link 21", the several latch teeth dropping over the linksuccessively until the doors have been opened to .the desired angle,when the latch locks both doors against closing morement. By

the provision of the multiple latching teeth at 37, the doors arelatched in dill'erent: de; ;'rec.-; of open position so that it is notnecessary to more the doors back to wide open position to secure thelatched engagement.

. 'itteut' on is now directed supporting means. The guide bar 226 ispreferably a length of stock piping, and the front end thereof is bent.around at right.

angles to form the short lateral extension :26. This lateral portion isattached to the v V A- J1. supymrtmg bracket 2:, the taper consisting ota mounting plate .53 secured to the cross beam 15 and having twodepending threaded studs 5-t-----5-l. These thrtalded studs pass throughopenings m the lateral extension 2e, and nuts 56 threading on thesestuds above and below the laterzl extension 26 support the trout end olthe. guide rod. Elli.

A. roller or sleeve 57 is rotatably mounted on the lateral extension onbctweiai the threadml studs 'llhe height of this roller can, he raisedand lowered by adjush mcnt ot these nuts aid--56 up and down along theirthreaded studs The door l i. which door closes last to press its battenstrip Hov r the edge of the other door ll. has an arm 58 projectingtherefrom. adapted to ride up on the top of the roller when the doorsare swung to closed position. 'lhis arm constitutes part to Figs. 4-, oand ti which illustrate the door hitting or of a bracket comprising avertical attaching portion 59. A lower arm 61 extends out from the lowerend of this bracket, the upper arm 58 having a slight upward slope atits outer end, and the lower end having'a slight downward slope. Thelower arm 61 is adapted to pass under and engage a stud or projection'62projecting from the edge of the other door 14". This stud'or projectioneX- tends from a bracket plate or other attaching portion 63 which isrigidly secured to the inner side of the other door. This projection 62may have a plain bearing surface on its under side, or may be providedwith a roller for rolling engagement with the arm 61. In theclosingmovement of the doors, the upper'lifting arm 58, which is longer thanthe lower lifting arm, rides up on the roller 57 and thereby lifts thefree edge of the door 1 1 relieving this door of its sagging weight andavoiding any tendency of the lower edge of the door to drag on thepavement or strike the lower sill in the closing, of the door. When thearm 58 is riding up onto the roller 57' in the .act of closing thedoors, the lower lifting arm 61which is now, or has been engaging in theprojection 62-also lifts the edge of the other door 14 whereby thecamming action of the arm 58 riding up onto the roller 57 lifts bothdoors and thereby relieves the sagging weight of both doors. It ispossible to construct the door operating linkage 21'21 so that it willautomatically time the closing of the doors to compel the inner door 14to precede theouter closing door M -to closed.

position, whereby the lifting arms 58 and 61 will engage the roller 57and projection 62 in properly timed relation to raise both doors. Thusby simply applying closing pressure to the outer door 1 1 both doorswill be moved to closed position and both doors will be lifted orrelieved of their sagging weight. By the manipulation of the adjustingnuts 56, the roller-57' may be raised or lowered to proportion the liftof the doors to the particular doorway, and, if desired, the height ofthe roller 57 may be adjusted so that no lifting action will occur untilthe doors actually develop a tendency to sag.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 I have shown a modified arrangement of latchingmechanism. In this embodiment the latching functionoccurs between thesliding collar or block 23 and the guiderod 26. Inthis form, it isparticularly desirable that the sliding collar or block 23 be heldagainst any rotative movement on the guiderod 26 and to this end the rodmay be formed of square or polygonal. sect-ion with the sliding blockprovided with a correspondingly shaped bore; or an arrangement ofsplines or keyways may be provided between the sliding blocka-nd theguide'bar. Adjacent the front end of the guide bar a plurality. ofratchet teethfifi are formed in one side of the bar. The sliding collaror block 23 [carries a pawl 66 adapted to engage in these teeth, theteeth being so located that this latching operation will occur indiiferent degrees of open position of the doors, similarly to thelatching operation disclosed in Fig. 1. The latch 66 which is normallyurged into the teeth by a spring 67 is adapted to be retracted fromlatching engagement through one of the operating links. To this end, oneof the links '68 is arranged for axial rotation in addition to itspivotal motion relative to the sliding block. This axial rotation ispreferably provided for by connecting the operating link to the slidingblock 23' through a ball and socket or other universal joint ,69 andlikewise. connecting the other end of the link to the door by a similarjoint 71. This ball and socket or other universal joint will permitaxial rotation of the operating link 68 and still maintain pivotalconnection between the sliding block 23 and the door. The inner end ofthe link 68 has operative connection with the latch,

'66 through an arm 72 projecting from the operating link and an arm 73projecting from the latch, which arms are adapted to transmit rotativemovement of the link 68 door operating and latching mechanism.

In the, modified construction shown in Figs. 10 and 11 the operation oflifting or relieving the sagging weight. of the door is performedthrough the links 21 and 21. These links have pivotal attachment toasliding collar or block 23 at their rear ends andare pivoted to thedoors at their front ends, Xactly as described of the construc tionshown in Figs. 1 and 2.. If desired, the sliding block 23 may be heldagainst rotation on'the guide rod 26, by forming this guide rod ofpolygonal cross section or. by providing a keyed or splined connectionbetween the block and the guide rod.

ably consists of two sections of pipe having their inner ends secured inbosses 79 extending from an ad ustable supporting llO 4. In garage dooroperating mechanism,

a guide rod extending longitudinally'of the garage, a sliding collar onsaid guide rod,

links pivotally connected to said sliding collar and. to each of thegarage doors, a latch pivotally mounted on one of the doors and adaptedto effect latching engagement with the associated link, and releasingmeans mounted on said door for releasing said latch means.

5. In garage door operating mechanism, a guide member extendinglongitudinally of the garage, a sliding block on said guide member,links pivotally connected to said sliding block and to each of thegarage doors. and a latch pivotally mounted on one of said doors adaptedto engage with the ad ja'cent link, said latch having a plurality oflatching teeth for holding said doors in different degrees of openposition.

6. In garage door operating mechanism, the combination of a guide rod,means for mounting said guide rod within the garage and extendinglongitudinally thereof, a slid ing collar on said guide rod, two-linkspiv-- otally connected at their inner ends to said sliding collar,pivot'brackets for pivota-lly connecting the outer ends of said links tothe two garage doors, a latch bar, a niounting bracket on whichsai dlatch. bar is pivoted, said mounting bracket being adapted for mountingon one of the doors, said latch bar having a plurality of engaging teethin its underside and having a cam slope at its outer vend'for cammingitself up over the adjacent link, and a. latch releasing rod operativelyconnected to said'latch and adapted to be extended down along the innerside of the door to a convenient point of operating.

7. The combination with a double door garage, of .means for lifting thesagging weight of one of said doors and means effective between both ofsaid doors for lifting the sagging weight of the other door as saiddoors are moved to closed position.

8. The combination with a doorway and a pair ofdoors for closing thesame, of means "for transferring the sagging weight of one of said doorsto the other during the closing movement thereof, and means effectivebetween the latter door and saiddoorway for receiving and supporting thesagging weight of both doors.

9. The combination with a doorway'haw ing two doors for closing thesame,of a supporting surface carried by the upper partof said doorway, an armextending from one of said doors and adapted'to ride upon saidsupporting surface for lifting the free edge of said door during theclosing movement thereof, and cooperating engaging surfaces 011 saiddoors for transferring the sagging weight of the second door to saidfirst door in the closing movement ofsaid doors.

10. In garagedoor operating mechanism, a guide rod extendinglongitudinally of the garage, a sliding collar on said guide rod, linkspivotally connected between said sliding collar and the two garagedoors, and stationary supporting surfaces over which the intermediateportions of said links are adapted to slide in the inward and outwardmovements of the links, said stationary supporting surfaces acting asfulcrums to sustain part of the sagging weight of the doors.

11. Ingarage door operating mechanism, the combination of a guide rodextending longitudinally of the garage, a sliding collar on said guiderod, links pivotally connected to said sliding collar and to each of thegarage doors, a pair of stationarysupporting surfaces across which saidlinks are adapted to slide in their door operating movement, saidstationary supporting surfaces sustaining a part of the sagging weightof the doors, and means for adjusting the height of said stationarysupporting surfaces.

12. In garage door operating mechanism, the combination of a guide rodadapted to extend longitudinally of the garage, a sliding block on saidguide rod, links pivotally connected between said sliding block and eachofwthe garage doors, a pair of supporting bars extending across thedoorway below the upper cross beam, means for fixedly supporting theouter ends of said supporting bars, abracket .supportingthe inner endsof'said supporting bars and the front end of said guide rod, and meansfor adjusting the height of said bracket, said links sliding across saidsupporting bars and on which they have fulcrum support for lifting thefree edges of the doors.

13. In a garage door apparatus, the combination of a guide carried bythe garage, a link pivotally and slidably carried by said guide andoperatively connected with one'of the garage doors, and door-holdingmeans adapted to effect latching engagement be tween said link and saiddoor.

14. In a garage door apparatus, the combination of a guide carried bythe garage,

a link pivotally and sli'dably carried by said guide and operativelyconnected with one of the garage doors, and supporting means for saidlink intermediate its ends for preventing the sagging of said door.

15. In a garage door apparatus, the rombination of a guide carried bythe garage, a link pirotally and slidabl carried by said guide andoperatively connected With one of the garage doors, supporting means forsaid link intermediate its ends to lift the sagging Weight of said doorand means for adjusting the amount of lift.

16. In a garage door opening mechanism,

a guide member carried by the garage, a pair of links each having an endslidably and pivotally mounted on said guide and the other endoperatively connected With a garage door and supporting means for operating upon said links intermediate their ends to lift the sagging Weightof the garage doors.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 10th day ofFebruary, 1926. JOSEPH P. FREDRICK.

